Another broken LCD!

[Ralph1Malph]

Not happy Jan!
We replaced our first LCD after only 25mths (just out of extended warranty:mad:) as it needed a 2nd LCD (that's right, two in 25 mths:eek:) and the cost of the parts/labour was in excess of 120% the cost of a new one!

So we bought another, newer, flasher lcd taking advantage of a 'sympathy offer/discount' from Sony. I am yet to check the purchase date, but I think we made this purchase around 10mths ago - October 2012. The new bravia has now fault coded (4 x soft restarts followed by sets of 8 flashes from the power led).

Research tells me that this is v common on lcd and usually indicates either of the two main cct boards - that's right, either:angel:. Further research tells me that both can be replaced by the home punter, but invariably, you will purchase the wrong one, ie the one that isn't broken!:censored:

I'll see what Sony say about this jobby and how much grief they give me, but as many know, I am a reliability engineer and I am gobsmacked by what I read. Sony seem to be getting a reputation for building TV's that last until the warranty expires:censored:. One American forum even suggests that a class action is possible soon due to the seemingly blatant time based design being peddled by Sony and their superficially helpful support.

I was a fan of them for many years, probably from my first walkman days, which I am sure would still work if I could find it. In the early days they were quite the pin up geeks when it came to quality and longevity of their products. I remember discussing Sony's engineering schtick at Uni.

I'll follow this through until the logical conclusion but I will probably favour another brand next time.

I consider this to be the second bad thing in life atm, the other being the first SOO. I can't wait for the third bit of bad juu juu coz they always happen in threes!:(

Ralph

[shining]

That is a shame. Hope it turns out OK. We use them in an industrial environment (46in x 55in) for production display screens. They run 24/7 and we haven't had a failure in over two years out of 14 screens. Can't say the same for some "cheapies" that have been snuck in by "skunk-works".

[Cobber]

Shame you have had such bad luck. I've still got a Bravia from about ten years ago that ticks along faultlessly (touch wood!) but when I bought my last TV last year, the fella in the shop steered me away from the Sonys to a cheaper(!) LG based on better functionality and 'likely warranty claims with the Sony'. He then went onto say warranty claims of any kind are as much a pain for the retailer as they are the consumer because trying to get the manufacturer to a) admit a fault with their product and b) replace it is like getting blood out of a stone, so it's in their interests to avoid them too :)

The LG has served me well so far, but I guess only time will tell :cool:

Hope it all works out for you :BigThumb:

[Homestar]

Australian consumer law states that a product should last a reasonable amount of time - regardless of the manufacturers warranty. If you had spent $100 on a cheap unit, it may be argued that 25 months was a reasonable time for the unit to last, but given that it was a lot more expensive you could have argued that 25 months was not a reasonable time.

I would have taken the original claim further, but certainly take them to task with this one.

This website has a lot of good info on your rights - The Australian Consumer Law - Homepage (http://www.consumerlaw.gov.au/content/Content.aspx'doc=home.htm)

And, don't buy another of the same brand by the sound of it.

All the best, hope they come to the party...

[amtravic1]

We had a Sony for some time. It was repaired 5 times in the 10 years we owned it. Finally gave up and bought a Panasonic with zero problems so far.

Personally I would never buy Sony again. Seems to me the quality is not there and they are trading on their reputation.

[rangieman]

Sorry to hear i have had a bravia since Rudd was so kind to give me $900 it has been fine with out a single issue:cool:

[sheerluck]

When we were replacing a 3 year old Samsung plasma recently, we were in JB Hifi and given the advice by the salesman that the early Bravias were great for reliability, but the recent ones not so hot.

Take a look a Graysonline to see how many "refurbished" Bravia TVs they sell. Added to the fact that they only offer 3 months warranty once refurbished, to me sounds like they are best avoided.

[Chucaro]

My Aldi's 42" BAUHN is 3 yers old that works like a dream :)
When it goes a Samsung is on the list because their monitors are excellent.

[CJT]

I have two Sony Bravia XBR TV's, a 42" and a 46". Both are around 7 years old now, have moved up and down the east coast a number of times and have worked faultlessly.

I think it might depend on when they where made as mentioned above. Mine where built by Sony in Japan and from what I have heard they did not make much money on the XBR's at the time. The components seem to be great and I still have not found a new screen that matches their picture quality.

[ezyrama]

Shouldn't that read "Not Happy Lyn" :cool: we've Had a Sony CRT tele for quite a few years but replaced it with a largish flat screen Panasonic now for about 5 years and I cant fault it other than once in a blue moon the remote wont turn it on (probably once every 6 months) I just turn off the power and back on again and all's good. Electronic's, they just get confused like some old blokes, eh Rog?;)

[incisor]

i replaced a 10yr sony with a panasonic and it's been a PIA

[Modelsp]

The best thing to do with your old Sony Plasma's is make yourself a nice workbench light like these ones I have
Shadow free workspace over any bench,
Free from your local Footpath.
or if your old one still lights up but no picture
just take off the front surround and remove the Plasma Screen from the front of the light source
behind that screen is about 18x5mmx120cm flouro tubes that work separately from the plasma sideof the TV
see attached pictures,Awesome worklights,i have 2 going on different benches.
Cheers
Paul

[Ralph1Malph]

Orrighty then...
Check this for bizarre!:eek:

I rang Sony and was redirected to their local repair agent.
I have used this repair agent before for the other Sony LCD's so I knew and expected to be redirected. I have no beef with them.

Anyhoo, I get a recorded message along the lines of 'you are in a queue and the next available operator..blah blah'.

What? A queue at a TV repair shop..surely not. The world has gone mad.

I finally get through and am greeted with
"Hi, this is (choose lovely lady name). Are you calling because your Sony LCD soft restarted 4 times followed by repeated sequences of 8 flashes of the power LCD?"

"Yes...Ummm are you psychic? (I just added the psychic bit under poetic licence)".

"Did it start to occur between 730 pm and 9 pm last night and were you watching The Voice final?"

"Yes".
I kid you not. She said that!
I immediately thought - some mofo is pranking me. I don't prank well.

The lady went on to explain that the queue was due to many, many other punters ringing up for the same problem.
It was explained that channels 9 and 10 subtley changed the composition of their broadcast signals yesterday at 7 am, 2 pm and again at 7 pm last night.

"Hang on, you're telling me that it's the TV stations fault?"

"Yes".

"What do I do?"

I was advised to conduct a soft reset sequence (I knew and did that already) each time we watch, surf through or access the guide for ch 9 or 10 during those time periods.

WTF!:mad::eek::censored:

The nice lady then proceeded to further explain and ask for more detail to feed back to Sony who are apparently in talks with the TV stations to sort it.

Soooo. The set is not broken and they'll advise me by email/phone or fax when Sony releases a fix.

I googled this problem and funnily enough, the exact(ish) same thing seems to have happened in the US last year. The US fix by Sony was to send a software upgrade (USB mem stick) to affected punters. The software upgrade didn't always work and when it didn't it took out one of the previously mentioned cct boards! Hence the hinted class action.

I guess all I can do is wait. On the other hand, I may hand the negotiation over to my good wife, who is less understanding.

"It's 10mths old, they can just (insert swear word) make it work or get us a new one!" Says she.

Luckily we have other TV's in da house.

Ralph.